


All I Need is Oxygen (and You)

by lululawrence



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, M/M, OT5, Popular!Louis, Slow Burn, band geek!Harry, basically just a lot of fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-12
Updated: 2014-10-12
Packaged: 2018-02-20 20:10:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2441420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lululawrence/pseuds/lululawrence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are only two ways to navigate Bloomfield High School: become popular or make yourself invisible.</p><p>With the help of his best mate Niall, Harry’s introduction to high school hadn’t been half bad. Despite being a “bandie” – the lowest of the low in the ancient hierarchy of high school –Harry had somehow managed to survive freshman year relatively unscathed.<br/>So naturally, Harry would have been perfectly happy to resume his position of invisible trombone player number four for the remainder of high school. But one day something drastic happened, something that would change the course of Harry’s entire existence (probably).</p><p> It was the last football game of his freshman year, and the band was back in the stands after performing a rousing rendition of Bloomfield’s alma mater during half time. Harry was gracelessly wiping the slobber from the mouthpiece of his trombone when he saw him.</p><p>Louis Tomlinson.</p><p> </p><p>Or...a High School AU where Harry is a bandie and Louis is the epitome of cool, so naturally, Harry must find a way to get his attention and win his affections.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All I Need is Oxygen (and You)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bluelougoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluelougoon/gifts).



> Hiiiii, radlarry! I tried my best to fulfill your High School AU prompt, and I thoroughly enjoyed writing it, so I hope you enjoy the story and it lives up to your expectations! There was so much more I wanted to do with this story, but I just ran out of time so I hope this condensed version of the story works for you.
> 
> Biggest thanks to my awesome betas, twerk-it-larry, handlerssaywecant, and littlescumbags (all on tumblr...I can't figure out how to actually link them in)! You are truly the best and this fic would not be nearly so good without you. Hugs!
> 
> With that being said, all remaining mistakes are my own, it is defo fiction, etc. 
> 
> The title comes from the Reggae Song by Colors. I hope you enjoy!

There are only two ways to navigate Bloomfield High School: become popular or make yourself invisible.

With the help of his best mate Niall, Harry’s introduction to high school hadn’t been half bad. Despite being a “bandie” – the lowest of the low in the ancient hierarchy of high school –Harry had somehow managed to survive freshman year relatively unscathed.

So naturally, Harry would have been perfectly happy to resume his position of invisible trombone player number four for the remainder of high school. But one day something drastic happened, something that would change the course of Harry’s entire existence (probably).

It was the last football game of his freshman year, and the band was back in the stands after performing a rousing rendition of Bloomfield’s alma mater during half time. Harry was gracelessly wiping the slobber from the mouthpiece of his trombone when he saw _him._

Louis Tomlinson.

Louis was the stereotypical heartthrob of any teenage rom-com. He was the kicker for the football team, captain of the soccer team, and the shining star of the school choir. Louis was outgoing – his spot was practically reserved as the lead in the annual spring musical – and beloved by practically everyone. He was the kid every guy wanted to be and every girl wanted to be _with._

Well.  All the girls and Harry, that is.

Anytime Harry had managed to pay any mind to the football games, Louis had always been wearing a helmet. Consequentially, when first he saw the unnaturally beautiful boy before him with the toffee colored hair and sweat stained caramel skin, throwing his head back in laughter, Harry was caught so off guard he almost emptied his spit valve on the flautist sitting in front of him (which earned him a very dirty glare, but hey, he’s only human).

As soon as he came back to himself and realized he was about to miss the beginning of the school’s fight song, Harry’s mind began whirling. Incomprehensible thoughts, fragments of ideas, rattled about in his head, all of which revolved around tan skin, soft hair, and toned muscles.

Harry knew what he would have to do. He needed to make himself visible.

For the next few months or so, Harry had wracked his brain for something, anything that could get him noticed. He considered trying out for a sport, but he had less coordination than a slinky. He thought about trying out for the drama club, but Harry’s acting abilities were most definitely below par. Everything seemed to be impossible and Harry was almost ready to just admit defeat and pine for Louis from afar when his brilliant, beautiful, wonderful friend Niall (to whom he owes his life) suggested that he try out for choir.

Harry could do that. Sure, he choked anytime he even tried to sing in front of his cat, but hey, all he would have to do is survive auditions and then he would just be another face in the giant crowd of the choir. Invisibility to the masses would be possible, but Louis would still have to see him.

 

*~*~*  


First Day of School

 

“Harry, stop messing with your hair, it’s making me nervous and you look like static cling, okay?  So you’re obviously a tenor, yeah?  Think we will be folder partners?” the bottle blond energy ball that was Niall Horan bounced excitedly beside Harry.

“I don’t know, we might be.” Harry shrugged, shaking his hair out and brushing his fringe to the side for probably the fifteenth time in five minutes. It was a nervous tick of his that would probably make him go bald one day.

They had been waiting outside of the choir room for exactly sixteen minutes and twenty-one seconds, with a hoard of other choir members who seemed to be more enthusiastic than terrified for their first official practice. Harry had to physically restrain himself from vomiting.

Niall obviously sensed Harry’s nerves – people in the damn International Space Station could probably sense them as well – so he wordlessly placed his hand upon Harry’s shoulder. Although the gesture didn’t really eliminate any of his worries, it was definitely comforting.

Moments later, the auditorium door swung open, and the students were ushered forward. The instantaneous mass exodus of teenagers did nothing to help Harry’s already sub-par balancing skills as he was jostled forward, unceremoniously bumping into the person in front of him.

He looked up, preparing to apologize, but instead found himself frozen because, of course, the only person who could ever rival Louis’ beauty was standing right in front of him giving him a look that obviously read  _I don’t want to be here_ as he narrowed his eyes at Harry.

“Uhhh…” Harry eloquently muttered before Niall came to the rescue.

“Sorry about him mate, just got a touch of nerves is all,” he cheerfully apologized, the picture of innocence with his wide blue eyes and huge smile. “I’m Niall, and this is Harry – tenors.” 

“Right,” the Adonis slowly nodded, his voice laced with something resembling disbelief and confusion.  “Well, I’m Zayn, tenor as well.” 

While Niall barreled on, continuing to interrogate Zayn, Harry managed to regain his composure and the three of them moved along with the rest of the crowd flooding into the auditorium.

“My girlfriend, Perrie, roped me into helping her out since she’s Choir President and supposedly busy with other duties.” Zayn explained, and Harry only then noticed the clipboard Zayn was clutching to his chest, “So, I’m assuming you’re new members of the senior choir, yeah?” 

As both boys nodded, his hazel eyes softened a little and he almost allowed a smile before reaching up to touch his quiff to make sure it was still standing after the run in. “Give me your names and I’ll check you in and give you your assigned seats.”  He went on to explain a few more things, such as they will not be seated together because new members are always partnered with a seasoned member of the choir, before guiding the somewhat overwhelmed best friends to their seats.

After being seated somewhere in the middle of the room, Harry just looked about idly, pointedly avoiding eye contact with everyone around him. People were milling all about the room, reporting to Zayn for seating assignments, chatting with old friends, and generally being annoyingly sociable.

Because Harry Styles was not a love-struck teenage girl, he did _not_ look around for a certain cute boy and he _definitely_ did not let his heart sink when said cute boy was nowhere to be found.

Harry was interrupted in his non-search by a backpack being slung at his feet and a body sliding into the chair beside him. Harry looked up and found none other than Liam Payne – star quarterback – smiling at him. Harry took in his pretty amazing physique, shaggy brown hair, and large brown eyes as Liam began speaking.

By the time Harry had time to focus, Liam was already mid-sentence."...folder partner so I hope you don't mind that."

Harry visibly shook his head then finally was able to bring himself to speak. "I'm sorry, I blanked there for a minute. What did you say?"

Liam laughed a bit before repeating himself. "Sorry, I just got right into it, didn't I? My name's Liam, your new folder partner.” He held out his hand, which Harry took shyly. He really needs to get a handle on this social thing.

“ ‘M Harry.”

Liam beamed at him before carrying on enthusiastically, “I'm often a few minutes late to this period because of some extra responsibilities I have in my AP Physics class, so I was hoping you would be okay with grabbing our folder every day. I’ll put it back of course, but if you-”

“Yeah, yeah sure,” Harry interrupts, nodding rapidly.

“Great! We’re folder 54."

Harry already felt a bit more relaxed thanks to Liam’s unnatural friendliness. The two of them got to know each other while the rest of the choir finally found their seats and assigned folders and within 10 minutes, Mrs. Bradley had appeared from back stage and gotten class started.

“ _Folder partners with one of Louis’ best friends_ ,” he thought, “ _things could definitely be worse_.”

  
  
*~*~*  


After a long, grueling afternoon of band practice, Harry threw himself onto the turf of the field. Thanks to the strange heat wave Indiana was experiencing despite it now being almost late September, Harry assumed it must be right around nine-hundred degrees out. He tried to melt into the relatively shady sidelines of the practice field, but was soon interrupted by Niall practically jumping onto his chest.

"I...hate...you." Harry grunted, shoving the compact yet still deceivingly heavy boy off of him.

"Love you too,” Niall cooed back, reclining beside Harry. “So, Homecoming is two weeks away. Have you got a date yet?"

Harry attempted to bury his face in his palms until he realized even his hands smelled terrible after two hours of marching in the sun.

He glanced around to make sure no one could overhear this portion of the conversation. "It's not like there are that many dudes to choose from around here and I'm not going to lead any of my girl friends on like that, Ni. I think I'm just going to stay home."

Thinking the conversation was decidedly over, Harry pulled himself back into a seated position and took a swig of water from the bottle beside him.

"I hear Louis still needs a date."

And…what? Harry began to choke rather unceremoniously on his water while Niall just shot him a casual smile as if he weren’t being absolutely ridiculous right now.

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Harry croaked, and he could already feel his cheeks heating.

"Oh please, don’t act like you don’t want to take him."

Harry gasped, smacking Niall's arm. "That's not true! I do not!”

“Haz, it’s so obvious it’s kind of pathetic. The only time your eyes aren’t on him at choir practice is when they’re on the door waiting for him to come in.”

“Shit,” Harry breathed out worriedly, because yeah, that’s probably completely accurate. He nervously messed with his sweaty fringe before adding on, “Am I really that transparent?”

Niall nodded sagely, and Harry flung his arms over his face, embarrassment written all across it. One of his least desirable traits, in Harry’s opinion, was his body’s habit of showing everyone even his slightest discomfort by turning his entire top half a flushed red at the drop of a dime.

Right as he was about to recount his everlasting woes to the world, Mr. Hansen whistled for everyone to huddle around for last minute instructions before one last run through of their final piece, and then everyone packed up to go. Harry jogged over to Niall who was with the other percussion players on their way back into the band room. He pulled Niall aside, picking up exactly where they’d left off.

"Anyway, so what if would like to go with him? I can't do anything about it when I have never spoken to the guy and he’s completely oblivious to my existence."

Niall's ruffled Harry’s sweaty curls and rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "Bro, I'm positive he knows who you are. He has to feel your creepy _let me have your dick_ stares."

They were approaching the doorway to the band room, so Harry held the door open, making it easier for Niall to fit his quad drums through the entryway before he continued. "It’s not creepy, just appreciative!" Niall laughed and Harry amended his statement. "Okay, maybe it’s kind of creepy, but is it really _that_ bad?"  
  
"Yeah, it is, and even Liam has started noticing."

Harry stopped so suddenly a mellophone player who wasn't paying close attention ran right into him. This, of course, caused the naturally uncoordinated trombonist to crash to the floor, thus losing his grip on his own instrument. Harry watched in seemingly slow motion as his trombone went shooting across the hall towards the choir room across the hall. It finally came to a stop right in front of the open door, landing at the feet of a gloriously sweaty Louis Tomlinson. Harry’s completely horrified brain immediately began to short circuit, so Harry decided the best way to handle the situation would be to remain immobile and pretend he was invisible.

Unfortunately Carlos, the previously mentioned mellophone player, had other plans.

"Oh my gosh! Harry, dude, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize you had stopped and with the bulk of this thing I couldn't maneuver fast enough to avoid you, and..." the finicky freshman continued in his apologies and attempted several times to help Harry up without removing his instrument from his shoulders while Niall sounded like he was laughing so hard he might just fall over at any moment.

Harry just swatted Carlos' hands away and tried to appease the boy while explaining how it really was his fault for stopping out of nowhere when a shadow crossed over his face. And with just two words, Harry’s entire existence was turned topsy-turvy.

"Smooth, Styles," was all Louis said with a wink and a smirk as he sauntered past the band members and out the school doors. This, of course, only made Niall laugh even harder. Harry was on the verge of begging the floor to swallow him whole. Okay, maybe he did beg silently.

After a few minutes of sitting in silent shock, Carlos had finally given up on helping Harry, so he brought himself to his feet and checked his body for any injuries, but he only found that of his pride. He then stalked over to the choir room to fetch his slightly dented instrument.

Niall was still at the band room door wheezing as Harry walked through it with only a, "Shut up, I'm going home to die." mumbled to his sorry excuse for a best friend.

"Well, at least he definitely knows who you are!"  


*~*~*

 

The next day, Harry bounded to the choir classroom with an extra spring in his step because it was _finally_ Friday. As he mentally went over his weekend plans – which included little more than homework, band practice, and extended nap time – Harry grabbed his folder and turned towards his seat. He was half-way there before he noticed that someone had taken the seat beside his own, and it wasn’t Liam.

Just from seeing the back of the boy’s head, Harry knew exactly who it was: Louis Tomlinson.

Harry briefly considered his options. He could either stroll over to Louis like the epitome of coolness (but in a non-threatening way) and act as if he doesn’t even notice Louis, _or_ he could just bolt for the door and begin a new, prosperous life shucking oysters in Maine.

After going over the repercussions of both plans, Harry was more inclined to go with the latter.

He glanced quickly at the door, only to find that a throng of mingling students was barring his exit. Damn.

If there weren’t people literally all around him, Harry would have slapped himself. He could do this. Louis was only human after all – albeit an unnaturally attractive and unfairly charming human – but human nonetheless.

And so, with a renewed sense of determination, Harry puffed out his chest, squared his shoulders, and walked straight towards what could only be his death.

Quietly, Harry slipped into his seat and began to nervously rummage through his folder, pretending like he had something to do. Harry might have been crazy, but he couldn’t help but get the feeling that Louis was watching him.

"Hope you aren't too banged up from that incredible display in the hall yesterday." is how Louis broke the ice.

Harry’s eyes immediately snapped up to meet Louis, and suddenly Harry found that he somehow had adopted the social skills of a goldfish as his mouth did nothing but move noiselessly.  
  
         Louis, who seemed more than slightly confused, barreled on to make up for Harry’s silence, "Sorry about not helping you out, by the way."  
  
Harry shook his head hurriedly, “Not your fault.” Harry internally gave himself props for almost making a full sentence.  
  
"I know, but I could’ve like fallen over beside you or something. It’s always less embarrassing to fall when someone else burns down in flames beside you."  
  
At that, Harry let out a genuine burst of laughter, and his once-tense muscles relaxed subconsciously.

"Sure, makes total sense."

Just as the bell rang announcing the beginning of class, Louis snorted, quirking his thin lips ever so slightly. “I’ll see you later, Curly.”  


Harry watched in awe as Louis practically glided to his seat a few rows ahead, and he knew that the stupid grin on his face wouldn’t be coming off for weeks.

 

*~*~*  


  
That night was the first home game of the season, meaning it was also the first time the band would be performing their new half-time routine. It had gone relatively well – Harry had nailed his trombone solo despite his pre-show nerves – until he was back in the stands, wiping an unearthly amount of sweat from his forehead.

The football team, who had just returned to the field from the locker room, was pouring out onto the field, helmets in hand. Every now and again one would turn and wave to a relative or girlfriend as per usual. Harry hadn’t been paying much mind to any of it until he was jabbed in the side by drummer to his right, who tacitly pointed toward the field.

Of course it was Louis, and of course he was maybe sort of staring at Harry. Harry was about to indulge in an internal monologue about raising his hopes too high, when suddenly Louis sent a small wave in his direction. Oh god.

Upon seeing the gesture, Harry did as any normal person would and immediately turned around to see if Louis could have been directing his attention to someone else. No one appeared to be paying Louis any mind.

Once again, Harry focused in on Louis who was waving more deliberately now, obviously aiming for a reaction, and boy did he get one.

Harry didn’t need a mirror to know his face was turning a deep shade of red, and his smile was so wide it could probably emit enough solar energy to power the entire United States.

By now, Louis’ eyes were crinkled from the laughter he was stifling in the palm of his hand.

Harry’s heart fluttered unnecessarily. Hopefully embarrassment was the new sexy. He stood up and securely placed his instrument in his seat. When he turned back, Louis was facing one of the coaches, preparing to resume his warm up like he should have been doing all along.

Sighing to himself, Harry removed his hat and set it with his gloves and instrument on his section of the bleachers before heading to concessions to find Niall.

As he rounded the corner leading away from the bleachers, Harry zeroed in on Niall’s brightly dyed blond hair, and immediately surged forward towards him.

"Ni, I made a fool of myself. Again.” he sighed, emphatically grabbing at Niall’s cheese stained jacket. “I don't know how to stop it, it's like fate is trying to make him laugh at me!" Harry whined while yanking on his hair with the one hand he felt he could release from his best friend’s jacket.

“What are you on about?” Niall spluttered around a mouthful of nachos.

Only when he looked up did he realize that Niall was not alone, but standing with Zayn. Of course. He felt his eyes widen, likely to comical standards, before he pasted on a deranged smile. Letting go of Niall’s jacket, he squeaked out a, "Hey, Zayn!"

"Harry,” Zayn nodded, which in Zayn language constituted as a warm smile and maybe even a hug, “the band looked good out there, tonight.  I was looking for you, but it's harder to find a trombone than this drummer guy when you’re all dressed the same." he snorted, jerking his thumb towards Niall.

"Yeah, despite being incredibly sexy, our uniforms don’t really allow for much personal expression while on the field.” Harry rolled his eyes, the words effortlessly flowing off his tongue as he’d had this conversation many times before.

Suddenly, Harry realized this was the first full sentence he had ever gotten out directly in front of Zayn, who looked somewhat pleased if not shocked at Harry’s sudden comfortable sarcasm. Luckily, this seemed to put Zayn more at ease as well.

"I was actually hoping for more glitter and sequins this year. But alas, the band has once again failed me,” Zayn shook his head, feigning dejection. “I know that Louis is taking it rather personally." 

Okay, why did Zayn bring up Louis? And why was he watching Harry so closely? Most importantly, why hadn’t Harry melted and disappeared within the drain pipes yet?

Niall – real life angel, that one – just turned his head back and forth observing his friends with a look of confusion on his face.

"Wait...what were you saying, Harry?"

"Nothing!” Harry snapped back quickly. “It wasn't important. I didn't bring my money with me tonight so I’m just going to leave you to enjoy the concessions line,” his grin was wide (if slightly manic) as he hoped he was conveying some semblance of casualness.  “I’ll see you both later!" 

Harry didn’t even wait for so much as a blink before he was darting toward the stands.

As it turned out, Harry found himself seated among some of his bandmates just in time to see Louis make an attempt at a field goal. 

While the others were too busy talking about their first big exam on Tuesday or where the "secret" keg was going to be later that night, Harry's eyes focused on Louis prepping for his kick. 

He was in the middle of admiring Louis’ very useful and noteworthy flexibility when the snap came. Louis' foot met the football, and it flew the 40 yards to perfectly make its way through the uprights.  Harry suddenly found himself on his feet cheering and clapping as loudly as possible.

As the crowd’s roar died down, and Harry came back to himself, he realized his friends were simply looking at him in confusion. In all his years of attending high school football games, he had never even paid attention to which team scored, so cheering was a tad out of character.

"I didn't realize you were so into football, Harry," Lou commented, tilting her head to the side so that her platinum blonde bun sagged slightly. 

"Uh, yeah.  I’ve always liked it.” Harry scrambled to save himself, but it was becoming increasingly difficult as more and more of his bandmates eyes fell on him. It probably didn’t help that he was the only person still standing.

“This is just the first year I actually know people on the team, y’know?  It makes it much more exciting when we score." Harry reasoned, turning back to the field just in time to see Louis – who was jogging to the bench now, helmet in hand – smiling his way and sending him a thumbs up. He shyly sent one back before sitting back down.

Lou was still staring at him, as if she was trying to figure out if he was hiding something or not. Since they had known each other for at least 10 years, she was unfortunately very good at reading him. Also, his excuse was admittedly quite shit. After a moment, a look of realization briefly flittered across her face, but she eyed the rest of their group and decided to just whisper to him now that they had gone back to their own conversations.

“So, which one is it? Is it Liam? He is quite well built!” She nudged his shoulder with hers now that he had returned to his seat and he could feel himself flush. Most people suspected Harry was gay, but he had never had a reason to really be out completely seeing as he had never had a boyfriend. Sure, his family and close friends knew, as well as the guys he had made out with (obviously), but most of them weren’t from Bloomfield. While he wasn’t trying to hide it, he did appreciate Lou’s attempt to be quiet for this particular situation.

“Uh, no. He’s cute but…”

“But it is someone, then?”

Harry hesitated, not quite sure of how much he was comfortable with Lou knowing.

“Sort of.” he nodded, deciding it was better to just confirm there was someone and leave it at that for now. If he was as obvious as Niall claimed he was, then he was sure she would figure out on her own.

Content with her tentatively successful interrogation, Lou pulled herself back into the conversation of their surrounding bandmates about the group project assigned in their government class. With a bit less weight on his shoulders, Harry returned to watching Louis on the sidelines.

*~*~*

It was Sunday afternoon, and Harry was desperately trying to finish up his homework despite the blaring noise of unintelligible pop music leaking from Gemma’s bedroom into his own, when he received a text from a number he didn’t have programmed in his phone.

_Unknown:_

_Why do you think roller rinks died? It is almost like they don’t exist anywhere anymore!_

Harry read over the message several times, his thumb hovering hesitantly above the reply button. He figured the text probably wasn’t meant for him, but the mysterious sender did ask his opinion (perhaps inadvertently, but it still counts), so Harry decided to indulge the sender in conversation in a last-ditch effort to excuse himself from his actual responsibilities.

_Harry:_

_People obviously don’t have good enough taste to frequent them, which is just a travesty. What am I supposed to do when I feel the sudden need to reenact cliché roller blading scenes from the 90s???_

_P.S. I think you have the wrong number :/_

Harry set his phone down with the full intention of focusing on geometry, but somehow tetrahedrons paled in comparison to mystery messages.

_Unkown:_

_You are left with the choice of acting it out in a cul-de-sac in your neighborhood or the school parking lot, apparently. Speaking of, do you know of a good place to get shrimp?_

_P.P. S. Nope, this is the right number ;)_

 

Harry furrowed his brows in confusion because what did shrimp even have to do with anything they had mentioned so far? He scrolled back through the, honestly incredibly short, conversation searching for a message he may have missed. Nope. Only three messages so far and nothing remotely related to sea life. Also, was the wink really necessary?

_Harry:_

_Well that depends, I suppose. Are you looking for live shrimp or shrimp to consume or possibly even live shrimp to be consumed? I am unsure how fresh you are looking to find these shrimp._

_P.P.P.S: Is shrimp relevant to roller blading or your identity? Are you short or something?_

_Unknown:_

_Well, dear Harold, I am looking for shrimp to be consumed. I hate seafood and yet this task has been demanded of me by my mother. The same mother that decided it would be a great idea to no longer pick up her phone to answer my desperate questions._

_P^4. S. I’m not short. Everyone else is unreasonably tall._

Harry was still so incredibly lost as to who this might have been. Literally almost everyone he knew was already programmed into his phone. He figured maybe one of his friends changed their number without telling him or something. He wouldn’t put this conversation past Niall, except Niall is a dedicated lover of all foods and does not discriminate based on their origin.

_Harry:_

_Well, I know my mom loves the shrimp platters you can get at the Anderson’s on Main Street, so I would try there. Also, not to be rude or anything, but I’m actually quite confused now…who might my mystery friend be?_

 

His phone remained silent for over five minutes before Harry finally gave up on waiting and returned to his homework. The only other texts he got that night before he went to bed were from Liam and Niall, but still, as he fell asleep, his mind lingered on who this secret not-so-admirer may have been.

 

*~*~*

 

The next day, Harry was rushing down the hall afraid he would be late to choir and incur the wrath of Mrs. Bradley when he heard a familiar voice let out a sharp, “Harry!”

He immediately stopped his near jog and pivoted to find Louis running towards him, smile stretching ear to ear.

At that point, Harry actually made the conscious decision to give up trying to look cool or clever because just seeing Louis in his sweaty, golden glory was enough to send all of Harry’s coherent thoughts soaring out of his mind and into a sad little puddle at his feet.

“Hey, sorry I didn’t message you back last night,” Louis frowned as he came to a stop right in front of Harry _too_ casually, as if he were a real human being or something ridiculous like that. “My phone died and I couldn’t find my charger. I think my sister might’ve stolen it, but I’m rambling, and you probably don’t care, so…”

_Wait just one darn minute. Louis, as in Louis (fill in probably adorable yet also ruggedly handsome middle name here) Tomlinson had texted him, Harry Edward Styles. Oh dear God._

Sometime during his explanation Louis had wrapped his arm around Harry’s shoulder and begun guiding him the rest of the way towards the choir room.

After a very valiant and difficult chain of internal events on Harry’s part, he did pull himself together enough to giggle a little and tell Louis that it was no problem. At least he thought he did…he wasn’t quite sure if it translated correctly, and before he could watch for Louis’ reaction, Louis had already dropped his arm and scampered off to his seat with a quick, “Catch you later!”

 

*~*~*

 

A month went by and Harry’s infatuation with Louis only grew. They were also kind of almost friends, in a way. The two of them now greeted each other in the hall every time they passed by, texted almost nonstop, chatted before and after choir, and even had boys’ nights on the weekends with Liam, Zayn, and Niall.

There was one big problem. Well, really, it was several small problems that all added up to one big problem.

First, Louis was incredibly tactile. This in and of itself meant little to Harry, because he was too, and really, Niall had no concept of personal space so Harry was used to it. However, when you’re a teenage boy and you like another teenage boy and touching is involved…things happen. Liam and Zayn had also gotten to where they were so comfortable with Niall and Harry that the boys often ended in big, manly snuggle piles during their nights hanging out together. Harry could always tell when it was Louis cuddling up beside him or running his hand across his shoulders, though, mainly because his touch was far more gentle than the other boys, but also because the sensation immediately caused shivers to run down Harry’s spine and sometimes gave him goosebumps.

Second, Louis managed to steal literally all of Harry’s free time (and let’s be honest, some of his not-so-free time as well). It had gotten to the point where Harry’s mom had enforced a rule that during family dinners Harry had to leave his phone in his room, so that he wouldn’t spend the entire meal staring at his phone, waiting for Louis’ texts.

But really, the Louis takeover of Harry’s life happened so easily he didn’t even notice how pervasive it was until Gemma brought it up sometime around the end of October. Which brings us to the third issue.

“Harry. What exactly are you doing running around the house wearing nothing but spandex and a shield? Have I not already been scarred enough in my lifetime just living with you?” she complained while covering her eyes in an overly dramatic fashion.

Harry looked down at his shield and star on his chest, which he was quite proud of honestly, and pouted. “I think I make a really great Captain America! And the costume looks cool, don’t you think? It was the last one in my size, Gems. It’s destiny!”

“I thought you and Niall had been planning on being the Headless Horseman or something together?” By this time, Gemma had stood up in order to circle Harry, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Yeah, we were, but Louis had this awesome idea where all of us dress up as the Avengers for a group costume! It’s gonna be so great,” Harry gushed. “Louis’ going as Iron Man, Liam is Thor, Zayn wanted to be Loki because apparently he is ‘too cool to be a good guy’, and Niall is gonna be the Hulk. I really wanted to be Iron Man, but Louis is perfect for that one so I just had to let him have it.”

Harry took a deep breath and was about to continue speaking when Gemma interrupted him because she began laughing so obnoxiously she had to sit back down on the couch. Harry gave a huff and put his hands on his hips, which only set Gemma off even more.

After a minute of patient waiting on Harry’s part, his sister finally flipped her hair out of her face, wiped her eyes, and calmed down enough to speak. “I’m sorry H, but you’re just so gone.”

He could feel his cheeks begin to really burn now. “Can’t a guy just be excited about Halloweening?”

Gemma snorted. “Are you sure it isn’t the thought of Louis in spandex you’re excited about?”

Enraged, Harry thought it best to leave with what dignity he still had, so he harrumphed and stomped back to his room where he could vent to Louis in private.

So. All of this combined with the fact that Harry was 92.7% sure that Louis had no romantic interest in Harry whatsoever obviously made these little things into a huge problem.

 

*~*~*

 

“Harold! Get your pert little butt down here this minute!”

Sounded like Louis had arrived. Harry checked his hair in the mirror one last time to make sure the gel would hold, before yelling back, “Coming! And stop checking out my butt!”

He could hear Louis’ cackle as he left his room and made his way downstairs where he found Niall and Louis waiting for him. Zayn and Perrie were meeting them at the party but wasn’t sure why Liam was missing.

“I thought Liam was meeting you at Niall’s?” He looked at Louis for confirmation and found the older boy’s eyes whip up back to his face.

Whoa, was he just checking Harry out? Before Harry’s mind could take that thought further, Niall answered his question.

“He was too afraid his wig would get tangled if he stayed out for too long,” Niall shrugged, “so c’mon, we better hurry. You really don’t want to see me get angry!” Growling the last part as if he truly were the Hulk, Niall charged out the door, his purple shorts flapping around his painted green legs.

Harry turned towards Louis, about to make a comment about Niall being so small that he looked more like Gamora than the Hulk, only to find that Louis was blushing awkwardly. Harry’s mom Anne cleared her throat behind him, leading Harry to assume that something probably extremely embarrassing had occurred. He thought it best not to ask.

“You boys be safe and have a good time!”

“We will,” Harry nodded, right before she gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek. “Well, we don’t want to be late, so we’re just gonna go now,” Harry grumbled, after hearing Louis giggle quietly beside him. He rushed Louis out the door with his hand on the small of the older boy’s back. It was only then he got a good look at what Louis was wearing.

Instead of going for the bulky costumes that had the pieces of armor for the Iron Man suit, Louis had opted for the spandex suit with foam pieces built into it to depict the metal pieces. Because of this decision, his outfit – much like Harry’s – did not leave much to the imagination. Harry would definitely need to keep his hands and probably his eyes to himself for the rest of the night. Or else, he wouldn’t be able to hid his…ahem… _enthusiasm_.

Thankfully, Harry only had to survive the car ride to Liam’s and then the party, which didn’t take too terribly long.

Harry had been to plenty of parties, but never with Louis and his friends. When they got there it was already dark and you could feel the bass emanating from the sub woofers inside the well-lit home. Liam had said it was one of their teammate’s houses and his parents always let him throw an annual Halloween rager.

Once they walked into the crowded house which was bursting with wasted teenagers, Harry darted towards the kitchen to get a drink. Once he had a cup in one hand and a smile plastered on his face, Harry passed through the living room, which was full of people dancing and laughing and generally being drunk, then through a smaller room to the right, tables were set up for those who wanted to play Flip Cup or Beer Pong. Harry eventually settled in a den area where a group of students he knew were lying about on an assortment of overly complex furniture.

He sat for a while, quietly listening in on the conversation, making a comment or two when he felt moved to do so. It wasn’t too bad considering Harry usually left within the first ten minutes of any party ever. On his sixth birthday, Harry had even hid upstairs with Niall until his mom had dragged him down for cake and presents.

By the time he’d finished his first drink, Harry decided to go get a refill for lack of better things to do. On the way, he pumped into Zayn and Perrie who were headed towards the dance floor.

“Hey,” Zayn nodded towards him, and Harry had to say, his costume wasn’t all that convincing because Zayn was definitely way too good looking to be anything but Zayn Malik.

“Zayn,” Harry grinned, giving him an ever-so-cool fist bump. “Where is everybody?”

“ Louis said they are getting some games set up in the basement or something,” Zayn shrugged, pointing towards the stairwell at the left.

“Oh, maybe I’ll join them,” Harry hummed thoughtfully, and for only having had one drink, he actually was quite drunk.

Assuming it was just going to be a round of Kings or something similar, Harry waved a short goodbye and headed down the stairs where it was a bit darker and significantly quieter than the main floor.

Niall, Liam, Louis, and a few others were sat around in a circle on the floor.

“Hazza! You finally arrived!” Niall cheered only to be smacked by Louis.

“That’s Captain America to you, you worthless green giant!” Louis yelled back. Niall cackled and took another swig of his beer as Harry threw himself to the ground on Louis’ other side.

“Zayn said you were getting some games set up?”

“That is right, Cap,” Louis beamed, giving him a mock salute. Harry smiled indulgently even though Louis was being an idiot – when was he not, really?

Judging by the way Louis’ hiccups smelled of alcohol and his giggled rang louder than the blaring music, Louis was obviously a light weight. Either that or he was drinking at a much faster rate than Harry. At this point, Liam would most definitely be driving them home since he didn’t drink at all. Apparently he had a kidney thing.

As Harry got situated, Liam went ahead and explained what was going on.

“Jesy and Danielle are getting a few others to join our circle and we thought we would start with Spin the Bottle or Never Have I Ever. Which do you wanna start with?”

Harry considered his options and decided that Spin the Bottle would definitely be the safer bet for him at this point and informed the now full circle of his decision considering Never Have I Ever would reveal his complete lack of experience in anything ever.

“Spin the Bottle’s good,” he pitched in.

Louis clapped Harry on his back with a sparkle in his eye and shouted, “Well let’s get this party going!”

The game had everyone laughing and there were great combinations like Jesy and Nick, Danielle and Aiden, and even Niall and Liam, but nothing could have prepared Harry for when his spin landed on Louis. Somewhere in his slightly alcohol fogged brain, Harry had known there was a chance that at some point this could’ve happened (especially if you considered that the universe either hated or loved him passionately), but it hadn’t really clicked until it was too late.

When the bottle stopped, pointing directly and unquestionably at Louis, it took a few seconds to register in Harry’s mind. He gulped nervously while slowly turning with a nervous smile towards Louis, who was already facing towards Harry, smiling lightly.

Harry wiped his hands on his knees in an attempt to dry them off, but the spandex of his costume didn’t help much with the clamminess.

Well, Harry supposed he didn’t have much to lose.

The two boys slowly leaned towards each other and all that was running through his 15 year old brain on repeat was _it’s happening it’s happening it’s happening_ and _Louis Louis Louis_ until their lips touched and all conscious thought blew to oblivion, instead replaced by bright sparks.

Harry knew he shouldn’t move. He knew this was a game. He also knew that something inside of him needed his hands on Louis. Around Louis. All over Louis. So just as he was reaching out to tangle his fingers into the thin wisps of Louis’ hair, heart bounding obnoxiously loud, the world proved just how much it disliked Harry Styles.

A loud retching sound was his only warning before someone was vomiting all over Harry.

Gasps filled the room, and Harry froze where he was and kept his eyes squeezed shut in the hope that maybe all of this, magical kiss with Louis included, might just be one, big dream and he would wake up on his bed at home. Unfortunately, he opened his eyes and found Louis mere inches away, eyes the biggest he had ever seen them, his face was the very definition of shocked. Harry cringed as he felt the vomit through his thin spandex.

He was vaguely processing that there was the sound of an apology muddled with clumsy feet clamoring up the stairs. Liam was talking, saying he would find Mark and see if he had something Harry could change into and maybe even shower so he wouldn’t be stuck in his disgusting outfit until he got home.

That last thought finally brought Harry back to the present and he began to stand up. Louis got up as well with the excuse that “Someone needs to help you rinse that off while you clean yourself.”

Harry and Louis were guided by Mark to the bathroom in his parents’ room that had been locked and therefore would be left alone to get himself and his costume taken care of. Mark said he would look and see if there was something his brother had that might fit Harry and bring that in to him as soon as he could. Harry thanked him and turned to the sink with the washcloth he had been given.

“Here, let me.” Louis took the washcloth from Harry and wet it down in warm water. It seemed he had sobered up as quickly as Harry had from the traumatic experience.

“I was thinking we could do the quick wipe up while you are wearing the costume and then I could really rinse it out well while you shower,” Louis suggested, holding the rag up like a peace offering.

Harry nodded in agreement and lifted his arm so Louis could get to where the vomit had spread from his back to his side. He felt Louis gently start swiping at the affected area and he looked into the mirror. Louis had a look of concentration on his face and his quiff was beginning to fall from how he had styled it earlier this evening, but he still looked beautiful. Amazingly, Louis somehow managed to maintain a year-long tan – probably due to the fact that he was actually the sun in disguise – and there were even some freckles still sprinkled across his nose. Harry might’ve been able to appreciate Louis’ adorableness more were he not in one of the worst situations of his life.

Harry had no idea how long he had been staring when Louis raised his eyes and caught Harry’s gaze. Neither of them said a word, so Louis went back to the sink to rinse off the cloth. Harry looked back down to his feet, but not before catching a small smile on Louis’ face.

“This isn’t exactly what I had in mind for how that game would end,” he joked, shooting Harry a helpless smile.

Harry snorted. “What? Didn’t you know the game isn’t over until the drunk guy barfs?”

Louis gave a quiet chuckle, shaking his head wistfully.

“It really is too bad we were interrupted as quickly as we were. I was hoping to see if your lips are as talented as they look.”

Harry’s brain might have short circuited to register only what Harry wanted to hear. Did Louis actually _want_ to kiss Harry?

“Ungd, uh, wait…what?”

“Oh come on, don’t act like you don’t know you’re damn hot,” Louis murmured, voice low, his eyes clouded with something Harry couldn’t quite place.

Harry just stared back blankly like a deer caught in headlights. The only thing running through his mind was _you more_ , although he wasn’t positive that made any sense at all, so he kept his mouth shut.

“Anyway, I think I’ve done as much as I can while you are still wearing that,” Louis told him, throwing the towel into the sink. “You want me to leave until you’re in the shower or…”

“Oh, uh, no that’s okay,” he shot back quickly, trying to communicate _don’t go just please get naked too_ as best he could. “I mean you don’t have to. It’s not really any different from dressing for gym or anything.”

“Alright.” Louis leaned back against the counter, arms folded across his chest.

Harry self consciously began to remove the costume. He was quite comfortable with his body and often preferred to be naked if at all possible, but this had a different feel to it than just stripping down in front of Niall or any of his other friends.  

He had been able to pry the wet spandex from his torso and was about to pull it past his hips when he looked up and saw Louis watching him.

Louis quickly averted his eyes and a flush rose on his cheeks as he muttered a barely heard, “Sorry.”

“’s okay,” Harry murmured back before finally pushing it down the rest of the way. Due to the fact the costume really did not hide anything, Harry had decided to just go commando and avoid the otherwise unavoidable bunching. He could feel his cheeks reddening as he dropped the costume into the sink and made his way to the shower. As he shut the door behind him, he could only Louis’ back as he turned to clean off the costume more thoroughly.

While he was in the shower, Harry quickly washed himself down, careful to remove any and all traces of vomit that might remain on his person. When he shut the shower off, the bathroom went deadly silent, so he peeked his head out of the shower to find some clothes sitting on the counter along with a towel, but no costume or Louis.

Unsure whether to feel relieved or disappointed that Louis wasn’t still in there, he dried off and got dressed in the very snug pants and t-shirt. They were obviously worn by someone a couple of inches shorter than Harry and even more wiry than he himself was, but they would work for now. He hung the towel to dry and went off to find the other boys and figure out what the plans were for the rest of the night considering it was now at least 2 am.

 

*~*~*

 

Liam drove them all back to his house and they all stayed the night there, the boys sleeping peacefully around Liam’s bed while Harry fought an internal battle.  
  
Did all of this mean that Louis was interested in him?  Was Harry over thinking it? He would’ve asked Niall for help, but it would’ve been no use. Not when Niall hadn’t even been there. How could he be sure that he didn’t just imagine the whole thing?

Harry had never been more conflicted in his life.  
  
He finally dozed off probably 15 minutes before he started hearing Mrs. Payne making breakfast downstairs, which only woke him right back up again.  He wandered down to the kitchen, still wearing the ill fitting sweats from last night but without the shirt.  He scratched at his belly and yawned while he waved with his other hand towards Liam’s mom.

"Morning, love.  Didn't expect to see you up this early,“ she chirped, turning her attention back to the eggs she was cracking.  
  
Harry chuckled in response and blushed while looking at his bare feet.  "Well, I couldn't sleep so I thought I could at least help you with breakfast."  
Harry didn't know her very well, but Karen was exceedingly nice (how could she not be when she had raised Liam, of all people) and he found himself having a great time with her while making breakfast.  They were laughing over some story about Liam’s turtles being cannibals while Harry pulled the breakfast casserole out of the oven when Harry heard footsteps behind them.  
  
"Harold just has to go and charm all the mothers, doesn't he?"  
  
After carefully setting down the pan, Harry turned to face a smirking Louis.  His bed head was nothing short of adorable and he still had creases on his cheek from his pillow, but his blue eyes were incredibly bright and alert considering how little sleep he had gotten the night before.  
  
"It’s good practice for when I’ll need to woo my boyfriend’s mom one day," Harry replied without thinking. Holy shit. Did he just openly flirt with Louis…and in front of his friend’s mom? As he began to flush, he decided to change the topic.  "What woke you up?"  
  
"I was dreaming of breakfast, actually,” Louis sighs cheerfully, clapping his hands together. “Looks like dreams do come true.”  
  
Louis offered to lend a hand, and the three of them settled into a comfortable rhythm around the table with plates piled high.  When noon rolled around and the other three boys didn't seem to be waking up, Harry finally moved from where he was seated.  
  
"Thank you for the fun morning, Mrs. Payne, and the breakfast, but I better bet getting home."  
  
Harry and Louis helped clear the table, and then Harry headed up the stairs to fetch Niall who was coming home with him so they could get ready for their band competition, when he felt a small, cool hand gripping his wrist.  He paused mid step and turned around to find Louis right behind him.  
  
"I can take you two home, if you’d like.  Give you a bit more time to get ready,” Louis offered, smiling tentatively up at Harry.

Harry smiled and nodded while just continuing to stare at Louis.  They seemed stuck in time and Harry didn't know if it was his overactive imagination going crazy again or what, but he felt like there was electricity in the air and Louis' expression seemed to slowly change.  Harry was just about to ask him what was going on inside his head when a very familiar, brash voice piped up behind him.  
  
"Harry, dude!  We've gotta get home like now!” Niall gushed in a panic. He was probably right.  
  
Louis dropped Harry’s wrist, and Harry turned around to face Niall. "I know, I was coming upstairs to get you,” Harry grumped, trying to convey the whole _you totally just threw off my groove_ vibe. “Louis’ gonna take us home so we don't lose any more time."

“Sweet! Let’s go!”

 

*~*~*

 

Harry had been surprised by quite a few things the past couple of months, like how easily he and Niall seemed to be adopted into Zayn, Liam, and Louis' group of friends, or how much he and Louis truly seemed to have in common. Still, he hadn’t quite grown accustomed to these surprises actually happening.  
  
He was still entirely shocked only a week after the Halloween kiss to find Louis and Liam in attendance at the State Band competition.  And not only were they in attendance, but they had a massive sign specifically cheering on Niall and Harry.  Thankfully Harry saw the sign and the attached bodies before they entered the field, or he is quite sure he would have tripped over himself while trying to march.  
  
Aside from that, the competition was rather boring.  The band performed the best they could and received the highest marks; however no awards were won for Bloomfield High.  
  
Harry wasn’t too torn up about it. 

How could he be when Louis had driven over two hours to get to the tiny podunk town in northern Indiana that was hosting this year's State Band competition and all to just support him?  Well, him and Niall.  But let's just pretend for the time being that the sole reason Louis came today was Harry.  And really, the way he attacked Harry before they loaded back onto the band buses certainly made it feel like it was just for him.  
  
As it was, Louis basically tackled Harry in the parking lot and it was only by pure luck that Harry didn't topple over because he had already stored his trombone away.  Harry gripped Louis' small waist and laughed into the maroon beanie the other boy was wearing.  
  
"You did so great!  You guys should have definitely won.  I have no idea what those judges were thinking giving it to that other band.  They were biased, I’m sure!"

Louis’s breath was coming out in warm puffs on the very sensitive region right below Harry’s ear, and Harry needed to distract himself from this fact before the situation became embarrassing. Luckily, Louis also provided that distraction with his ridiculous claim.  
  
"Lou, was this the first band competition you have ever attended?  Because we were good, but we weren’t Grand Champion level."  
  
Harry felt Louis huff before he finally pulled away.  
  
"I am an expert bander-er.  You were robbed, I swear it!” Louis stamped his foot against the ground, pouting like the child he was. 

“Sorry, you’re right,” Harry cooed back. “You’re the best bander-er alive.”

Louis’ triumphant smile was only brief before being replaced by something a bit more hesitant. “So...do you have to ride the bus back or do you think you and Niall could sneak off to ride home with me and Li?"  
  
“Er, I can’t, sorry,” Harry replied regretfully. “That’s against school policy, bust speaking of Liam, where is he?"  Harry craned his head around looking for his other friend to no avail.  
  
"He said he would be waiting in the car.  He didn't want to get cold or something. Said he could just congratulate you guys at the movies tonight."  Louis seemed to shuffle nervously at that and wouldn't keep eye contact with Harry anymore.  
  
Harry scrunched his brows together and pulled at his lower lip with his thumb and forefinger.  "So do we know which movie we are seeing yet?"  
  
"Nah, we’re just going to see whatever is at 9,” Louis shrugged as if that was something completely rational to do before barreling on. “I could get you at 8, and we could grab some dinner beforehand if you want."  
  
Right at that point a brisk wind came through the parking lot and Harry could see one of the directors giving him the evil eye for still chatting instead of loading onto his bus.  Harry shivered, pulled his own beanie further down onto his head, and turned back to Louis.  
  
"Yeah, that sounds great.  And thanks again for coming.”  
  
Harry began turning towards the bus and Louis waved cheerfully and, while walking backwards towards the public parking lot, yelled,   "It's a date!" before he then turned around and ran away.  


  
*~*~*  


  
"Ni, I hate it when people use that phrase!” Harry moaned, unloading his woes onto his chief confidante.  “Does that mean he actually thinks it is a date?"  
  
At this point they were almost back to the school where Harry's mom would be waiting to take both him and Niall home and Harry had been working himself into a nervous wreck almost the entire ride.  It really was surprising that Niall wasn't outright ignoring him at this point. 

Actually, maybe he was. 

Come to think of it, he hadn't answered Harry with more than a grunt in a few minutes.  
  
"Ni?  Are you listening?"  Harry waved his hand in front of the blond's face and finally brought him back to the real world which obviously consisted of a personal crisis for Harry.  
  
Niall sighed before shifting around so he could grab both of the Harry’s shoulders.  "Haz, I was listening and I have been the entire gazillion times you were whining about not knowing whether Louis really was asking you out.  I have nothing more to add than I did 30 minutes ago.  Just assume it is a date and if not, make it one.”

“And how do you supposed I do that?” Harry asked skeptically, raising both eyebrows for emphasis (not because he couldn’t raise only one because he totally could…sometimes.).

“Grab his dick.”

Harry was about to continue with his questioning but the bus pulled into the school parking lot and Niall gave out a rather emphatic, "Oh thank God!" before leaping out of his seat.  
  
"Are you at least going to help me find something to wear?" Harry yelled after him.  
  
"Course!  Once you feed me!" Niall screamed back.

  
  
*~*~*

 

Harry nervously brushed his fringe out of his face as he observed himself in his mirror. The outfit Niall had chosen was perfect, actually. It was a simple Rolling Stones t-shirt with his skin-tight black skinny jeans and his favorite pair of tattered black boots.

Once he had convinced himself he looked as good as he could at this point, he tossed himself onto his bed and pulled out his phone to pass the time until Louis decided he could swing by.

He had just started another game of Bejeweled (don’t judge, it is totally a classic!) when he heard a knock at the door. He pulled himself up, grabbed his wallet and house keys and stuffed them into his pockets with his phone, and headed down the stairs.

If he thought Louis looked good earlier, that was nothing compared to how he looked now.

The boy wore his hair messy, but the fringe was still perfectly swept across his forehead, which somehow seemed to accentuate his cheekbones. He was wearing a red shirt with a scoop neck, which not only set off his amazing collarbones but also his clear, blue eyes. Unfortunately for Harry and his overactive imagination, the shirt perfectly detailed his small waist and his black jeggings did nothing but show how perfectly shaped his bum and legs were.

Harry finally pulled himself together with an audible swallow and continued heading down the stairs. Anne, who had enveloped Louis in when he had appeared at the door, finally let go of Louis, and he immediately turned to beam up at Harry.

“You ready to eat?” Louis called as Harry stumbled down the stairs, hoping his cheeks didn’t flush like he thought they would.

“Course,” he grinned. Harry turned to his mom and gave her a big hug. “I’ll see you later.”

She just chuckled and rubbed his back. “Have fun!”

Louis waved and grabbed Harry’s arm before dragging him out the door. Well, dragging is probably exaggerating it a bit since Harry was going more than willingly. Anyway, they giggled out to the car and Louis drove them into town.

“So where are we eating, anyway?”

“I was thinking Applebee’s. That work for you?”

Harry agreed and they made their way to the restaurant, but Harry still wondered if this was a true date or not. After nearly biting his lip raw and bouncing his leg so rapidly that Louis had to put his hand on it to slow him down, Harry decided he needed to stop worrying and just enjoy the night.

Until he realized Louis wasn’t moving his hand.

 _Oh my God_ , seemed to be running through his mind on repeat as he attempted to ignore the jolts of electricity that now coursed through his limbs. He looked over at Louis and found him already glancing with a smile back at him.

“You seem nervous about something, Haz. You okay?”

“Yeah!” he squeaked out, before clearing his voice and trying again. “Yeah, ‘m fine.” Harry tried to give a comforting smile to Lou, but it didn’t seem to be working as he continued to glance at Harry while driving. Louis hummed in response and pulled into the parking lot.

Once they were seated at their table, Harry felt even more off-center, but he couldn’t figure out why. He didn’t even know if this was a real date! It was so far going just like any other time the two of them had hung out together…if you ignored the whole hand on the thigh incident from the car. So why was he getting so riled up? He had finally decided he needed to just relax and ignore the possible implications of this dinner and then Louis had to go and screw up his resolve by _touching_ Harry.

“Okay, spill. I know something is going on inside that curly head of yours,” Louis finally cracked once their server had taken their orders.

Harry lowered his eyes to his hands that were clinched together on the table.

How was he supposed to explain that this was maybe exactly what he had been hoping for for an entire year now but never really allowed himself to believe could be a possibility? Especially when he didn’t know for sure what Louis’ intentions were or what he was hoping to get out of this.

If this was just some bro-pal-dude dinner like they usually were and Harry were to insinuate that it was more, he could lose Louis as a friend and as a maybe more.

He heaved a sigh while trying to figure out what exactly to say. He finally looked up again and saw Louis wearing a nervous expression that rivaled what Harry was feeling.

“Is it because I called this a date?”

Harry felt his eyes widen, but he couldn’t deny Louis when he asked outright. He slowly nodded his head as he felt his cheeks redden.

Louis took a deep breath, and slowly let it out, puffing his cheeks a bit in the process. “It doesn’t have to be a date, Hazza. We go to dinner all the time just the two of us. I mean, I was hoping it could be a date, but if you don’t want it to be…”

“Wait, what?” Harry interrupted, but Louis just barreled on.

“…because you aren’t interested, then don’t worry! It’s fine. I understand. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable or do anything you don’t want to and…”

“Louis.”

“…our friendship really does mean a lot to me and I would never want to put you in a position where you thought you had to choose between being friends with me or not and…”

Finally Harry just started laughing. It was so obvious at this point that both of them had been clueless as to the other’s feelings, but hearing Louis say he was hoping this could be a date vanquished all of Harry’s nerves.

After Harry calmed down a bit, Louis just stared at him with a distinctly unimpressed look on his face.

“Are you quite finished?”

Harry wiped the one stray tear that had escaped off his face and cleared his throat so he could answer seriously.

“I believe I am, yes.”

“Please explain why, after I was sitting here, essentially baring my soul to you, you felt the need to laugh at me.”

“Oh, don’t be such a drama queen, Lou,” Harry chuckled. “I’m laughing because I want this to be a date too.”

Louis’ jaw dropped. “You…really?”

Harry nodded emphatically and was rewarded with the brightest smile he’d ever seen in his life. He couldn’t help but mirror Louis, which of course resulted in his date (insert totally manly squeals here) leaning over to poke his dimples.

“Well. Good.”

Once they got that out of the way, everything seemed back to normal, but even better.

Right before their meal was brought out, Louis linked his feet around Harry’s ankle and didn’t remove them for the rest of dinner. They talked until their stomachs were full and their cheeks tear-stained from incessant laughter. They left an ample tip once they finally left the restaurant to make up for monopolizing their table almost the entire evening and headed out to the car.

Harry had missed 10 text messages and 3 calls from Liam alone. There were several mixed in from Niall as well and even a text from Zayn. It was then he realized the time. It was past 10:30 now.

Louis started laughing from the driver’s seat as he flipped through his own texts and missed calls.

“Well. We definitely missed the movie and pissed off our friends.”

“Guess that means we have the rest of the night free,” Harry shrugged before boldly reaching out for Louis’ hand and linking their fingers together.

Louis’ eyes crinkled and he took both of their hands to put the car into gear now that it was warmed up.

“I think I can handle that.”

 

*~*~*

Early December

 

“…So we _might_ have been getting a bit hot and heavy at this point and our shirts _might_ have magically flown to the floor…”

Niall snorted as Harry just continued to blush and stare at his boyfriend while biting his lip to hold back any further reaction. Louis continued with the story as if he had heard nothing.

“…and I _might_ have started to unbutton Curly’s jeans when…”

“You swore you wouldn’t go into this much detail, Lou!” Harry protested.

“Shh, you’re ruining the story. So I had his jeans unbuttoned when Harry’s door flies open and Robin comes walking in!”

Zayn clapped a hand over his mouth and curled in on himself in an attempt to muffle his laughter, Liam just stared in disapproval of the boys’ behavior, and Niall began to cackle loudly.

“What did he do?!” Zayn questioned.

“He asked what we thought we were doing.” Louis shrugged nonchalantly, like being walked in on by Harry’s step-dad was no big deal.

“And you said…” Niall prompted.

Louis just turned to look at Harry with a smirk on his face. Harry rolled his eyes, knowing Louis wanted him to answer so he did.

“I said we were looking for the TV remote.”

This caused an entirely new round of loud laughter, with even Liam joining in this time. Harry couldn’t help but chuckle a little. The fact that this had happened just last night and Robin might have created some rules involving Louis and Harry’s limits was still extremely embarrassing, but he could admit that, from everyone else’s perspective anyway, it was rather funny.

“Please tell me Robin was smart enough to know better.” Liam asked, a hint of worry on his face.

Louis smacked him on his shoulder. “Of course he did, he’s not an idiot!”

At that point, the doorbell rang indicating the pizza delivery guy was finally there. Liam, Niall, and Zayn got up to pay and grab the four boxes they’d ordered, while Louis turned to Harry and pulled him in for a impromptu kiss.

“Hi.” Harry whispered breathlessly as they finally pulled back.

“Hi yourself, boyfriend.”

Harry ducked his head to Louis’ shoulder to hide his massive smile.

“Hey! Don’t go messing up my sheets!” Niall shouted at them from downstairs.

They both chuckled a bit before getting up and immediately linked their hands together, going to join their friends downstairs.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I would love to know what you think! You can reblog the fic post [here](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/110251956108/all-i-need-is-oxygen-and-you-11532-words-by) :)


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